Sidney Clark Ells

1879-1971

This series of drawings were produced by Sidney Clark Ells to illustrate his
article Alaska Highway published in the March 1944 issue of The Canadian
Geographical Journal. They would be published again in his mildly eccentric
book Northland Trails (Burns & MacEarchan; 1956), a collection of verses, short
stories and illustrations documenting Ells’ own experiences working in
the north (including his tenure as a scientist with the Federal Department of
Mines) interwoven with the author’s version of the history of the region
including reflections on early geology, dinosaurs, and the area's first
inhabitants. While most of Ells’ illustrations for both his article and
book are straightforward depictions of construction and surveying activities,
the initial image of "Hannibal Crossing the Alps" is typical of the
artist/author’s tendency to make unusual connections in order to further
his often heroic narratives of the north country.

Sidney Clark Ells was a graduate of McGill University and a controversial figure
often at odds with his superiors and colleagues. He surveyed much of the
Athabasca Region and after leaving the Department of Mines, he produced a
report on his studies of the oil sands for the Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh,
a document that, while flawed, generated extensive discussion and debate among
scientists, business people and politicians. The Ells River, which flows into
the Athabasca River just north or Fort McMurray, was named in his honour in the
1920s.